Recommend a book to me! (And win one of mine.) ~ Outside the Margins with Lisa Henry

Coming home from GRL always leaves me feeling ambivalent. On one hand, it’s great to be home with family and friends again, and sleep in my own bed again, but on the other hand I feel like I’m slipping into that place where I only exist as an author in some sort of parallel online world that’s not quite real.

I have a friend at work who is really into Star Wars. She does cosplay. And she was saying the other day how much she’s looking forward to going to the premiere of Rogue One, and dressing up in her Jedi robes, and hanging out with all the other fans in line. Because we’re in a smallish city, the opportunities for cosplay are few and far between. “But the night the movie comes out? That’s our night!” And I think I know exactly what she means.

For most days of the year, my enthusiasm for m/m romance is something that I don’t get to talk about a lot in person to anyone. I mean, the internet is fantastic, but nothing beats an actual physical conversation with people who are into the same things you are. And to me, that’s what’s so fantastic about GRL. It’s a chance to share ideas and inspiration, to talk about the books and the characters we love, and to not care, for once, just how loud we’re being about it.

I like that I can admit I read and write romance without almost wanting to clarify that statement somehow, as though there’s something embarrassing about loving romance, as opposed to a more “serious” genre. Romance, someone said to me once. Isn’t that pure escapism?

Right, and some guy taking down an entire squadron of terrorists armed only with a single handgun is a documentary. But aside from that, what’s wrong with pure escapism? Sometimes real life sucks. Sometimes I want to grab hold of all the happy endings I can get, thanks. I’m certainly not going to apologise for that.

In that spirit, and to help me get over my post-GRL (and everything else that’s happening in the world) funk, I’d love it if you could all recommend me an m/m book you love, whether it’s an old favourite or a new discovery, and tell me what you love about it. I need a bunch of great books to get me through to the new year!

On December 1st I’ll draw a commenter’s name at random to win an ebook of their choice from my back catalogue.

~Lisa Henry

About Lisa Henry

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Farewell Giveaway
I have a number of paperbacks, most of which are signed, to giveaway. Over the between now (11 Mar 2017) and 31 Mar 2017, every comment on the blog (this post and all other new posts), will be entered to win 1 of these paperbacks. There are also some misc swag items, so there will be a few packs of these to give away as well.

Thank you so much for your support over the last 4 years. Prism will be closing its doors on 1 April 2017. All content will remain available, but no new content will appear after 31 Mar 2017. As such all request forms have been turned off. Again Thank you,

17 thoughts on “Recommend a book to me! (And win one of mine.) ~ Outside the Margins with Lisa Henry”

I’m a massive fan of Jordan Castillo Price’s PsyCop series. It’s set in a world where psychic powers are recognized and the lead character Victor is a medium who works as a cop and has a really hot romance with another hunky cop.

I am a terrible person because I love her writing, but I’ve never read any of these, simply because I keep thinking I don’t have the time to commit to a whole series! I really need to make the time, since I’ve only heard wonderful things about them.

I would recommend anything written by Justine Sebastian. I’ve read everything she’s published so far, and it is amazing. It is quite different and sometimes even painful, but she is an amazing writer that does not leave people unaffected. A favourite of mine? Bitter Sweets.

Anything by Jordan L. Hawke, but especially Widdershins which I have read multiple times (plus the audiobook is awesome too). She is great at world building and also creating complex characters who you can fall in love with.

One of my all time faves is Immortality is the Suck by AM Riley. Snarky anti hero becomes a vampire. Shenanigans ensue. Another great book, well, series actually are the Duncan Andrews thrillers by Stephen Osborne. One of the best UF series I’ve read. There’s a good romance in it too.

Hey Lisa! Please don’t count me for the giveaway (for obvious reasons) – I just wanted to rec The Gift of Gravity, by Sage C. Holloway. I literally never see it mentioned anywhere but I read it months ago and it’s still on my mind.

A new one I really enjoyed was Bitter Legacy by Dal McLean. Some of my favs are the Adrian English series by Lanyon and the Cut and Run series by Abigail Roux. Also any of Rhys Ford’s mysteries and anything by Mercy Celeste. You just wanted one but that’s not possible.

Muscling In by JL Merrow is a favorite comfort read of mine. It features an entirely ordinary character who is quite simple but who often makes more sense than others who are “smarter”.

A Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles is simply a wonderful glimpse into a historical England setting with magic. The romance takes a back seat through most of the books, but honestly I cannot imagine two people who work out better and deserve to be together more than Stephen and Lucien.